BLACK FOREST CAKE

Printer friendly version

INGREDIENTS:

(A)

    3 small egg yolks

    110g flour

    ½ tsp baking soda

    20g cocoa powder

    60g castor sugar

    70g oil

    100g milk

    1 tsp chocolate emulco/ paste

(B)

    3 small egg whites

    ¼ tsp cream of tartar

    60g castor sugar

Decoration:

    350-400g non-dairy whipping cream

    Chocolate curls (see Pic. 1)

    120g dark pitted cherries

    8 maraschino cherries, with stem

(1)

(2)

Tools for decoration:

    Serrated knife for slicing cake

    Turn table

    Spatulas for spreading and smoothing whipped cream

    Piping nozzles

METHOD:

Chocolate chiffon cake:

1. Preheat oven at 190 degC.

2. Sift flour, baking soda and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl. Add egg yolks, castor sugar, oil and milk to the dry ingredients. Use a hand whisk to mix until just combined. Add more milk if the batter is too thick.

3. In a separately mixing bowl, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar at medium speed until formy. Add sugar and continue to whisk on high speed until soft peaks form. Turn to medium speed now and stopp whisking until stiff peaks just form.

4. Use a large spatula to fold 1/3 of egg whites into egg yolk mixture. Fold gently to not deflate the egg whites.

5. Transfer mixture in (4) to the remaining 2/3 of egg whites.  Fold gently.

6. Pour batter into a 8 inch round cake pan. DO NOT grease your pan.

7. Bake at preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

8. Remove cake from oven. Invert cake pan immediately on a wire rack and let cake cools completely before turning it out of the pan.

Decoration:

1. Whip whipping cream till stiff.

2. Slice chocolate chiffon cake into 3 layers.

3. Place one layer on a cake board and brush cherry syrup (optional) over the cake. Cover with a thin layer of whipped cream.

4. Cut dark pitted cherries into halves and place evenly on the cream (Pic. 2). Cover the cherries with another thin layer of whipped cream.

5. Repeat the above with second layer of cake. Lay the third layer of cake over it. Trim the sides of the cake if necessary.

6. Spread whipped cream on top and sides of cake. Smooth the cream with spatula.

7. Coat sides of cake with chocolate curls.

8. Pipe eight rosettes and top each with maraschino cherries. Sprinkle top of cake with chocolate curls if you like.

9. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

NOTES:

If you are working with whipping cream in hot climate like in Malaysia, it is preferred to split the decoration into a few steps, chill the cream or cake for 10-15 minutes before going to the following step. Whipped cream only stays firm at temperature of 4 degC or below. Avoid spending too much time on decoration as the whipped cream will gradually melt. Melted whipped cream will not produce a smooth cake. Take special note on this, especially if you are a newbie in cake decorating.

You can opt to chill your cake after below steps. This is just my experience for you reference. After a few practices, you will be fast enough and will not need to chill your cake between decoration steps:

          - After whipping the cream

          - After spreading cream on all layers

          - After spreading cream on sides and top of cake

          - Of course, after finish decorating the whole cake.

Good luck!